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LONDON: Britain was set Sunday to recognize a Palestinian state with a landmark announcement due from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as several nations were poised to follow at UN talks to pressure Israel over the Gaza war.
Starmer “will set out the position later on today,” his deputy David Lammy told the BBC on Sunday, stopping short of confirming UK media reports that there would be full recognition of a Palestinian state.
Portugal’s foreign ministry also said in a statement that Lisbon would “recognize the State of Palestine” and that “the official declaration of recognition will be made on Sunday, September 21.”
Although it would be a largely symbolic move, the UK would become the first G7 country to take the step with France and others expected to follow at the annual UN General Assembly which opens Monday in New York.
It is a watershed moment for Palestinian statehood, with the most powerful western nations having long argued it should only be part of a negotiated peace deal with Israel.
But a growing number of longtime allies have shifted positions, as Israel has intensified its Gaza offensive, triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack.
The besieged Palestinian territory has suffered vast destruction, a spiralling death toll and a lack of food that has sparked a major humanitarian crisis.
’Special burden’
The UK government has come under increasing public pressure to act, with thousands rallying every month on the streets. A poll released by YouGov on Friday showed two-thirds of young Britons aged 18-25 supported Palestinian statehood.
Lammy acknowledged at the UN in July that “Britain bears a special burden of responsibility to support the two-state solution.”
Over a century ago, the UK was pivotal in laying the groundwork for the creation of the state of Israel through the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
Three-quarters of UN members already recognize Palestinian statehood, with at least 145 of the 193 having taken the step or announced plans to do so, including the pledges from France, Canada and Britain, according to an AFP tally.
Starmer said in July that his Labour government intended to recognize a Palestinian State unless Israel took “substantive” steps including reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
He has also repeatedly called on Hamas to release the remaining hostages they captured in the 2023 attack, and said the Islamist militants should play no role in the governance of the Palestinian state.
Lammy told the BBC on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority — the civilian body that governs in areas of the West Bank — had been calling for the move for some time “and I think a lot of that is wrapped up in hope.”
“Will this feed children? No it won’t, that’s down to humanitarian aid. Will this free hostages? That must be down to a ceasefire.”
But he said it was an attempt to “hold out for” a two-state solution.
Palestinian foreign minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin told AFP last week: “Recognition is not symbolic.”
“It sends a very clear message to the Israelis on their illusions on continuing their occupation forever,” he added.
But the UK’s plans have angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who accused Starmer of rewarding “monstrous terrorism” and appeasing “jihadist” ideology.
And US President Donald Trump said on Thursday after his landmark state visit to the UK that he disagreed with Starmer over the issue of statehood.
Israel has retained the backing of the US, its most powerful ally and biggest arms supplier, as it has intensified its campaign on Gaza vowing to eliminate Hamas.

’Worrying evolution’

Israel’s military campaign on Gaza has killed at least 65,208 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gazan health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Portugal’s foreign ministry said on Friday that it would also formally declare its recognition on Sunday.
Lisbon said in July that it intended to do so, citing the “extremely worrying evolution of the conflict.”
Thousands of Israelis are also calling on the international community to formally recognize a Palestinian state in a campaign which has gained 8,500 signatures on a petition to the UN.
By continuing the war, “we’re only going to escalate the cycle of violence, bloodshed, and revenge we’ve been trapped within, not since October 7, but for a century,” said campaigner Maoz Inon.

GLENDALE: US President Donald Trump and top officials in his administration will lead tributes to Charlie Kirk on Sunday at a stadium gathering in Arizona, after the influential conservative activist was gunned down last week.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck on September 10 while speaking at a Utah university as part of his popular public debate series.
Authorities arrested a suspect after a 33-hour manhunt, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty in the case.
The killing of the young conservative leader, founder of the Turning Point USA right-wing youth action campaign, has further deepened acrimonious political divisions in the United States.
Authorities say the suspected 22-year-old gunman cited the “hatred” he believed was stoked by Kirk — who was a vitriolic critic of transgender people, Muslims and others.
Kirk used his millions of social media followers, the massive audience of his podcast and appearances at universities to bolster Trump with young voters and fight for a nationalist, Christian-centric political ideology.
Even before the alleged killer was identified or arrested, Trump called Kirk “a martyr for truth and freedom” and blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left.”
The US president has lauded Kirk’s role in helping him get re-elected in November last year.
In Phoenix, outside Turning Point USA’s headquarters, hundreds marched on Saturday to lay flowers, American flags, and red, white and blue balloons.
The sidewalk was filled with tributes to Kirk, depicted in photos with the slogan “Faith, Family, Freedom.”
“He was an amazing young man, who was taken away from us much too soon,” said Patti Peteque, 53.

 Crackdown on liberal ‘terrorism’ 

Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will all speak at the memorial on Sunday.
Also speaking will be Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and other prominent Trump administration officials.
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, who is taking over the reins of Turning Point USA, will also address the audience at the 63,000-seat State Farm Stadium in Glendale.
In response to the killing, the White House last week declared it would crack down on what it terms “domestic terrorism” by the political left.
Trump said he would designate “Antifa” — a shorthand term for “anti-fascist” used to describe diffuse far-left groups — as “a major terrorist organization,” a move he threatened in his first term.
Prominent late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was yanked off the air Wednesday, hours after the government threatened to cancel broadcasting licenses because of comments he made about Kirk’s killing.
The moves have sparked alarm among Trump’s critics who warn of possible steps to silence dissent of his divisive right-wing White House tenure, marked by a rolling back of social justice policies and an immigration crackdown that has seen widespread complaints of rights abuses.
“All over the world, Amnesty International has worked for decades to expose and document the silencing of dissent through a range of tactics, and we are deeply concerned such efforts are becoming normalized here,” said the rights group’s Executive Director Paul O’Brien on Friday.
Many on the right-wing in the United States, however, see things differently.
“The left is just getting a taste of their own medicine. Who stood up when we felt censored, when we felt canceled?” said Peteque, the mourner in Phoenix.